Trains
by madchilla
Summary: Eren was given only one instruction: Do not cross the railroad tracks.


Those two words were the two words he never thought he'd have to hear, especially one month into the summer before his senior year of high school. Of course, it wasn't much of a shock after the three words his parents told him only months before, but he refused to believe it then. When his parents told him and his little sister, Mikasa, that they were getting divorced, Eren was relieved. He was getting sick and tired of having to listen to his parents fight while he consoled his sister, trying to convince her that none of their screaming was her fault. He knew that both of his parents loved him and Mikasa very much. Them getting a divorce wouldn't change that.

When Grisha and Carla split up, it was a unanimous decision that Carla would have custody of Eren, until he turned eighteen, of course, and Mikasa, while Grisha would take Mikasa every other weekend, as it was more convenient for his job.

That being said, it was decided that Grisha would keep the relatively small house in their Midwest suburban neighborhood, as it was, once again, most convenient for his job. He agreed to have Carla and the kids stay until Carla managed to find a decent job with a pay that would support her and her children.

Eren thought life was pretty damn good at that point. His parents would no longer keep him up through the night with their fighting, and his father wouldn't be on his ass twenty-four-seven about college things and applying for scholarships, because apparently, a doctor's salary isn't enough to help pay for student loans. His mother was searching for decent sized apartments or townhomes that would be the perfect place for the three of them to live. She even picked one out as her favorite that was only about a block away from Eren's best friend, Armin's house, while his place was across the city before.

Life was pretty damn good until his mother said those two awful words.

"We're moving." Oh wait, he already knew that. Those two words weren't that bad. "To Florida." You know...that place about two thousand miles away from his school and friends. Those were two words that he absolutely did not want to hear.

At first he argued, "But what about my friends? But what about my school, Mom? I'm a senior this year. You can't expect me to start a new school in a new state during my senior year! I won't have any friends! Does Florida even have hockey teams? What about the scholarships I was going to go for here. Colleges were already looking at my applications!"

"You'll make new friends," Carla responded. "It doesn't matter which high school you go to. Colleges will look at your applications all the same. You have nothing to worry about. And I'm almost positive that Florida does have hockey teams."

He threw a temper tantrum, at first, slamming his door behind him when he stomped to his room. He then texted Armin, informing him of the bad news. Being the logical friend that he is, Armin tried to put more positive thoughts into Eren's head. "Sure, you're moving to the opposite end of the country, but at least you'll be by the ocean! Think of all the beaches. Think of all the pretty ladies in bikinis bouncing around, playing volleyball on the beaches! Think of how gorgeously tan you'll get, Eren! Come on, man, think of the good things."

Oh Armin...bless his soul. Eren didn't know what he would do without his bubbly blond coconut, because he was irritatingly right. Eren had always loved the beach, but with the climate of his location, it was difficult trying to find a decent time to go. Plus, he would look like a supermodel when his already luscious German skin tanned.

Eventually, Eren thought it wouldn't be too bad, moving the Florida. Sure, he'd have to get used to people calling his family "y'all" and he'd have to remember to say "soda" instead of "pop", but hey, it could be worse. He could be going to Georgia were every soda is fucking Cola. He was just excited to escape the torturous times of the year called winter in the Midwest and replace it with the wonderful breeze coming from the ocean water.

That thought was thoroughly erased when the moving truck they'd been following for the last twenty hours or so turned of to a gravel road. A chant of vicious no's ran through his head as the car turned onto another dirt road, one that appeared to be a driveway, passed a few tiny houses, before pulling up to the tiniest house he'd ever seen.

"Mom...no. This can't be it." He scanned the surroundings from his window, desperately looking for any sight of water of palm trees.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked.

_Yeah...beautiful if you're fucking eighty years old._ "Where's the beach?"

"Did you really think that we'd be able to afford a house on the beach with maid's salary? Think again, little man. This is the best we've got for now. It could be worse. We could be living in a trailer."

Eren slumped in the passenger seat, grumbling, "I'd rather be in a trailer on a beach than this ancient dump..."

Not taking any of his bullshit, Carla flicked his ear. "A trailer on a beach would still cost almost double than what we're paying here. Until I can find a better job, this is what we're stuck with. Come on, Eren, it's not that bad. Don't you think it's at least a little cute?"

"Yeah, cute for great-grandma..."

His mother popped the trunk of the car open and hopped out. "Stop pouting, Eren, or I'll give Mikasa the only room in the house with a connected bathroom." After hearing Mikasa's high whoop of delight, Eren jumped from the car, snatching the keys from his mom and rushed toward the door just beyond the car port. He jammed the key into the lock and let himself in, rushing through the house to find his new room, completely oblivious to the new scenery around him. He ran past the kitchen, through the area between the living room and the space leading to the patio, past the bathroom and to the left.

The room wasn't very spacious, not that he expected it to be. Eren was somewhat pleased to see that the carpet was a light blue. It would match his bedspread and curtains perfectly. Just as his mother had said, to the left of the door was another door leading to the bathroom. It wasn't luxurious by any means, but it had a sink, a toilet and a shower. What more could a teenage boy ask for?

Now that he was content with finding his room, he decided to stake his claim. How, you may ask? By taking a piss in his brand new toilet and "forgetting" to flush. Boys are fucking gross.

Time passed quickly while Eren reorganized his room to the exact way he liked it: made bed against the window, dresser against the wall next to the bathroom with a little TV on top, desk against the wall of the main doorway, and clothes scattered on his floor. Ah yes. Home sweet home.

Once his room was finished, to his own unique standards, Eren wandered around, checking out the rest of his new home. The bedroom at the end of the hall belonged to his mother, as it was the biggest, with a walk in closet. The one across the hall from his own was Mikasa's. The cream carpet and walls went along perfectly with her purple ninja bedding. Hey, what's better than the color purple and ninjas? Purple ninjas. Duh. That was always how she explained it whenever Eren teased her for her decoration choices. In her defense, she did have a better sense of style for being seven than Eren did when he was her age.

Making his way to the living room, he wasn't sure if he should have cooed or gagged. The room was disgustingly adorable, like his grandmother would sit in that room all day and knit a pair of socks. There was a large wooden door in the left corner of the room and Eren assumed it to be the front door of the house. He also assuming that it wouldn't be used very often with the access from the car port.

Spinning around, he walked over to the patio. There was a small space between the living room and the glass doors, so Eren figured his mom would put her office desk in that area. Screens closed off the patio, making it impossible for bugs or those little gecko dudes to get inside. Despite the size of the house, their backyard, confined by a tall wooden fence, was huge. Toward the back of the yard were multiple, flourishing trees. Grapefruits hung off of some and other little orange fruits hung off the others. To the left of the yard, there was another patio, but made of concrete, and a garage. Eren made a mental note to check out the other building as his mom called him to help bring in more furniture.

Eren made his way back through the (ridiculously small) kitchen and back out to the front yard where his mom was struggling to carry in the couch. Realizing it was too tough of a job to do on her own, she carefully set it down, trying not to drop it too hard. "Did you get a chance to look at the rest of the place?" She questioned. When Eren nodded, she inquired, "So, what do you think?"

Looking at the place he was supposed to call home, all he saw was dirt and trees. There were other houses near by, but considering all the garbage in their yards, they all seemed pretty sketchy, especially the one down the road with a vicious dog fenced in, barking ferociously.

There was no beach. There were no palm trees. There were no pretty ladies wearing bikinis and playing volleyball in the sand.

"It's...so _boring_."

* * *

_A/N: Hello again! Oh god, the background behind this story has been haunting me for years. I'm not even joking. When I told my friend the history of this place, she even tried to write a story about it. My intention was to make this sad and depressing (what's new), but I ended up writing about pizzas? _

_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one_

_-Em_


End file.
